Sheriff wants half-dozen new deputies

August 2, 2007

Cairo -- Grady County Sheriff Harry Young says he doesn't have enough deputies, and that affects response time and public safety. Young says his office only has enough money to have two deputies working each shift.

He says with the size of the county, he needs at least three or four. It sometimes takes deputies 45 minutes to respond to calls.

"Presence of law enforcement is probably the number one deterrent of crime," Young said. "And if you don't have enough deputies to be out patrolling and responding then it puts everybody in a bad situation."

Young currently has 10 deputies and two investigators. He asked the county commission for six new deputies and another investigator.

He says commissioners have told him he'll only get enough money to hire one more person for the 2008 fiscal year.